A good friend gave me a copy of the DVD documentary Ralph J. Gleason Celebrates Duke Ellington www.jazzcasual.com We often forget how utterly creative, enterprising, charming, and brilliant Duke Ellington was. I only heard the Ellington orchestra in person once. It was either at the Greystone Ballroom or the Madison Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan in 1957 or 1958. I believe Ellington and his orchestra were sharing the bandstand with Stan Kenton's orchestra. I've tried to locate the exact information about the event, but without success. I did find that Duke's band had gigs at the Country Club of Detroit in Grosse Pointe Farms during this period. I don't remember much about the night that I heard Duke Ellington and his orchestra - I was most likely totally awestruck.
The Ralph Gleason DVD is very worthwhile. It captures Duke at work and he reveals in conversation with Gleason his compositional practices - twenty minutes here and there. He wrote some of his greatest works in no time at all! If you're interested in finding out which tunes they were, watch this wonderful DVD about a fabulous person and music genius.
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